Naruto Kaisen
by xboxgamer322
Summary: Konoha, on the verge of war gathers they're forces, Sasuke and Akatsuki begin to move, The future uncertain and the present in chaos How will our heroes survive with so much destruction chasing them? NaruxSaku
1. Chapter 1

First of all I would like to introduce myself, my name is Tony, and this is my first published writing. But hey, I'm finally going for it. First off I would like to say if you didn't get it from the summary (which kinda suck because they are so short.), This Story is taking place after the Hidan and Kakuzu arc, so there will be spoilers up to that point.

The main gist of this story is to kinda introduce my fantasy of where Naruto should go. :) But hey don't be a hater, this is a fan fic for goodness sakes. I have a number of pairings already set in my mind but if any of you go absolutely crazy and are really enthused I may feel the need to change some. Though one nonnegotiable pair is Naruto and Sakura considering its kinda the base of the story.

Now I understand my writing may suck at the beginning, please forgive me. I'm still evolving my writing style, and will take constructive criticism but not flames.

Flame ex: i hate you, i hate you because you like peanut butter,i hate naruto he sux, why can't you just die, i hope you fall on a cucumber ---- (these are no no's and I will attempted to delete if possible lol, don't be a hater!)

Constructive criticism: Your story is pretty good but your grammar needs work "here", i don't really like your story but i did notice some sentence fragments (These will be smiled upon. :D)

But anyways back to the summary, I'm going to try and show the evolution of how Sakura finally show s feelings back to wards Naruto, and not just make up some BS, It will actually make sense, along with other characters that have to do with the main plot of the story I'm writing, and how they also change according to circumstances and events that take place, I will try to keep everyone in character for a while, and not change them without a reason why, (ex: Today Shikamaru got up and started to train with Gai-Sensei and Lee because he had a magical epiphany about milk. --- Yeah I know its dumb but you get the point.) I'm also not limiting this story to just the "Good Guys", I'm going to try and show some of the "Bad Guys" and how a few are just misunderstood (Yeah, I know..Cliche..but well, you know how it is ..), not all maybe just one or two.

Oh I almost forgot, I'm adding an OC to this story who will help certain events unfold (DO NOT WORRY it is not a mary sue, OC will not be paired with anyone, and probably won't live out the whole story. But hey you never know.)

PS: Naruto will never ever get the Sharingan, so don't ask.

PSS: I have a dry sense of humor, so look for the sarcasm.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. :(

"talking"

'thinking'

_It was late, several shadows blinked in and out of existence, leaving nothing to show that anything out of the ordinary had occurred, they made there way through this large maze to the middle where their target was to be. They found him sitting in a room drinking sake, unaware of the bloody reckoning he was about to undergo. The shadows dispersed. _

_The first shadow silently pulled a kunai out of its storage unit, and appeared behind the large and rather lavishly dressed man, half of a blink later the target covered in his own blood slowly slumped on to the floor, never even knowing he was being watched. _

_At the gate the shadows reappeared together and departed, just as the guard alarm was sounded, one could here "THE DIAMYO AND HIS FAMILY HAVE BEEN MURDERED, FIND THE ASSASSINS!!!!!!!!" but the shadows were far enough away to just here it as a whisper_.

Naruto bolted awake in a cold sweat, with an awful feeling in his stomach. He felt as though he would be sick, quickly hurrying to the restroom to look in the mirror. He gazed upon his features just as he had done a thousand times before. His long golden locks barely covering his bright sapphire eyes, wondering why he could not shake this feeling of dread and doom, he just didn't understand.

He started washing his face with cool water, trying to suppress this strong emotion that gripped him and ripped him back into the waking realm.

"This is becoming too much..." -- he muttered-- "I need the old hag to give me something to sleep."

He slowly made his way over to cupboard, where he stored his comfort food -- Ramen, his favorite thing. He always found that it helped him calm down after something traumatic, which he had more than enough of during his early life. That and it was dirt cheap, which was a great thing because he really didn't have the money to buy anything else.

"Well I feel refreshed, thank Kami I sleep so well every night." he grumbled as he rolled his eyes and returned to his room.

"What to were, what to wear, -- well its between orange and... orange and... well what do you know orange,-- thanks i'll take orange." he said under his breath.

'I really gotta get something different to break up all the orange, maybe lime green... one can not be in an orange mood everyday.'

Naruto quickly put on his new and improved jump suit and headed out for a nice walk in the forest, where he could think. He wasn't in the mood for talking right at the moment.

As he made his way out of Konoha he was stopped by and tiger masked ANBU.

"Naruto-san, the Hokage wishes your presence, she informs me that it is very important and requires you immediately." the ANBU said in his monotonous voice.

"Will do, Tora-san, thanks." he said mustering all the energy he could in his voice and failing dismally.

Wistfully the ANBU wondered what was wrong with Konoha's number 1 unpredictable ninja, but continued on to the others he was to deliver messages too.

Naruto grumbled under his breath the whole way to the Tsunade's office, about how this had better be really good to have interrupted him

Naruto slammed open to the door to find Tsunade's office packed with people, Daimyos, ANBU, Jounin, Counsel Members. Just what was going on?

"What the hell is going on here Granny!" Naruto bellowed, to get his voice heard above all of the busy chatter that was going on.

Everyone looked up, startled by the small rant that had just taken place, but after seeing who it was continued on busily.

Naruto became instantly annoyed and more curious than ever to find out what happened.

He sauntered over to the Hokage and said "hey Granny, what is going on here?!"

"We are going to war." the Godaime uttered with a rageful glare.

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The trees went past like never ending blurs as he made his way through the forest, it was early morning and he had been traveling all night at full speed. This was HUGE... And needed to be reported immediately

Itachi didn't much enjoy the idea of being a messenger boy, but under these circumstances he was willing to make a temporary arrangement, the boss needed to know now, and in person, he couldn't risk another member overhearing, it may cause a... civil war within the Akatsuki...

He continued at his lightning speed determined to be there as soon as he could.

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Having been jolted awake by a quite rude ANBU, Sakura a very unhappy person, especially on her day off, after a 48 hour shift at the hospital dealing with sick people.

As she made her way to Hokage's office, she was going through every possible scenario and getting...nowhere, this just didn't make any sense.

As she approached the Office of The legendary sucker, she suddenly got a very foreboding feeling, something was wrong, utterly and totally... she quickened her pace.

As she approached the door and reached for the handle she heard Tsunade say "We are going to war".

Her hand dropped from the handle, too shocked for words, and then to pure anger she screamed in her head 'WHY!'

She burst into the room to see a shocked and angry Naruto as well, his bright blue eyes in a scowl swearing to herself she could see some red leaking out from somewhere.

This morning would be a start to a very long day indeed

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He always most enjoyed the dark and silence, it was oddly comforting to him. He didn't allow himself many comforts, nothing to distract him from his primary goals in life, to kill a certain man and then afterwards restore his clan to its previous stature to one of the most powerful in the world.

He was a very driven man, and refused to rest until the point of fainting. Its a little habit he picked up after joining up with the late orochimaru, he did have his uses.

"Boss, we are ready to go, everything packed according to your instructions" said Suigetsu.

"Very good, we should move out immediately." he stated in his robotic like voice.

Suigetsu visibly flinched at his tone.

Sasuke secretly smiled in his mind, a small special smile he kept for himself only, he could have some amusement, yet his face didn't betray his thoughts. He merely stared with a piercing gaze untill Suigetsu decided to take his leave.

Yes, everything was going exactly as planned, soon his revenge would be complete and he would be able to start on his next goal...

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Tobi was worried, very worried everything was blowing up in his face, it was all his fault. This was going to turn out to be very very bad, Itachi had already left to tell boss, and once he found out it was over, he needed to use every skill at his disposal to cope with this coming conflict...

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End Notes: Well this chapter went pretty well, I'm hoping its got some people hooked 3, I've introduced all the POV's except for two in this chapter to give you an idea of who and what is going on. Well in glimpses anyways.. Can't reveal it all to early or it won't be very fun. Anyways, not sure when new chapter is going to come up. I'm uber busy with college now, and have maybe like 2 hours a day of free time.

laters for now...

Special thanks to Matt for his help with beta copy, YAY Matt!


	2. Chapter 2

Well the first chapter went well, I got alot of what I wanted to do, done. This chapter will continue the introductions to the last two remaining characters, so you kinda have a full view of the plot from different angles. :P Anywho, thanks for the nice review(s), and sorry about the uber long pre-notes last time.There won't be any near that long anymore. And on to the story...

By the way, sorry for taking so long, I had a bit of a writers block. :)

"talking"

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"We're going to WHAT?!" Screamed an almost rageful Naruto.

"You heard me right, brat... We are going to war." seethed Tsunade.

"Why the hell are we doing that?!..What happened, Granny?...Please tell me!" He said pleadingly.

"Where to start, well first the Rock's most powerful Daimyo has been assassinated, and us framed for it, by some unknown force, but most agree its probably...Akatsuki, ther-"

"What?! Akatsuki is behind this?!"

"Shut up while I'm talking, brat! You asked me what was going on and I was telling you, so shut up!"

"Sorry, old hag.." he muttered under his breath.

She glared at him for a moment before continuing her story. "There are many secret alliances in this world, when rock declared war on us, it forced many of their alliances to do the same, by way of the treaty they signed. These countries include cloud, and grass... We have the same type of alliances with wind and water, so when we declare war, which, is in the process of being written up... They will have to declare war as well. We just got involved in the biggest war of the century..." She sounded resigned and somewhat defeated because nothing was under her control, and she knew that many good people die in war...

Naruto was in complete shock, his sapphire eyes just stared blankly at Tsunade, unable to grasp what was happening.

He walked away, just what is going on here, why is this all happening, a million thoughts were overwhelming his mind... He remembered what had happened to Kakashi-sensei, losing so many friends, so many precious people...

No..No, that would not happen to him, he would rather die, than let Sakura-chan die, or anyone he cared for...But thats just it...He cared for the whole village...

Something caught his eye over by granny, that pulled him away from his depressing thoughts, he could've swore he saw a pink lock of hair.. that could mean that only one person could be over by the old hag..well two, Sakura's mom or Sakura-chan, he really was hoping for the latter.

He slowly made his way over towards the heated discussion between Tsunade and Sakura-chan, taking care to note how the conversation was going. It would not bode well to play around with his teammate if she was especially worked up, not with her superhuman strength.

So far it didn't look so good, Sakura looked furious and confused, an odd combination of emotions. Apparently she had heard what the old hag had said, because everyone was quiet during the speech, he would be certain to be more aware of his surroundings in the future, especially in this foreign area known simply

as politics.

When he finally deemed the area safe enough for contact he entered himself in the conversation.. With "Hey Sakura-chan, how are you-"

Bad idea, should've waited longer, he realized this as he fell towards the ground below, from his once cozy spot in Tsunade's office...

Once he managed to come back into the office, Sakura had noticeably calmed down, he primarily figured this out when she started healing his wounds from his surprise date with mother earth.

"You should know better Naruto, then to be annoying when I'm angry." Said Sakura, in a matter of fact tone...Naruto visibly flinched...

"Sorry about that Sakura-chan." He said softly, then beamed a grin at her.

She returned the smile, it was a good smile that always made him feel better.

"Come on Naruto, lets get something to eat. I'm starving." Stated the pink haired girl.

"Whatever you say Sakura-chan." Said the blonde haired boy as he followed her out of the office.

"Hey brat, the briefing will be in two hours, be ready by then!" Yelled Tsunade as they walked out.

A few minutes later they were in town browsing possible food ventures when they heard a grown man giggling... wait... giggling... That could only mean the world's biggest super pervert was here...Jiraiya.

"Hello, Jiraiya-sama" seethed a now very angry Sakura.

Jiraiya looked down from his hiding spot in the tree and paled, he then leapt onto a nearby rooftop and screamed "you'll never take me alive!" And ran for his life.

Naruto grabbed Sakura to keep her from demolishing several city blocks in pursuit of the Legendary super pervert.

After a minute or so, she dropped from rage to mild annoyance, a new record in his book.

When he thought about it, that was an even weirder encounter than usual.

After about ten more minutes they were seated in a quaint restaurant, it was quiet and out of the way, so that they knew they wouldn't see any of their friends, they weren't really in the talking mood.

After a mostly silent meal comprised of little small talk, they paid and took their leave, and just walked... after walking around for a while, Naruto finally decided to start the conversation.

"So what do you think about all this Sakura-chan?" He said a little nervous that she may explode on him.

She stopped and looked over at him, her cerulean eyes glimmering in the sunlight "I just don't know what to think about this, its just to much." She whispered "How do you keep such a good attitude?"

He scratched his head in his normal fashion and said softly "Eh, well its not that I feel good, its just I'm good at putting on mask's..."

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"Goodbye son, your the man of the household now, you have to take care of your mother and siblings while I'm gone."

The son looked on the verge of tears, but quickly puton a brave face "I will father, you can count on me." He said in a wavering voice acting his best to be courageous.

"I will miss you my love, I'll be back, I promise..." He said softly to the small women in front of him, with large hazel eyes that were holding back a flood of tears and emotion.

"I'll miss you too. And you better come back, or I'll never forgive you.." She said in a muffled tone while hugging his torso tightly.

She let go unwillingly and watched his departure.

He left with the thoughts that he will come back to his family, there is no way this war will take him from them.

He needed to find the camp soon, if not there will be problems to deal with.

After several hours of travel he arrived at the camp,and walked up to the desk where a small man with an unusually large mustache looked up at him.

"Name and papers." He said annoyed that the man in front of him did not have them ready.

He fumbled around in his bag for a minute and found the papers, and handed them over to the man behind the desk, then said "My name is Kofuru Ihira, reporting

for duty as requested by the Daimyo of the holy country of Rock."

After the little man had checked his papers he directed him to the barracks where he would meet his commander, and get his equipment.

This was turning out to be a long day after all...

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He quickly jumped over the roof tops away from queen of destruction, and her counterpart the idiot, why did he have to giggle? Grown men don't giggle, giggling is

for girls, or very femine men, not for big strong men like Jiraiya.

It was time to go and see what all the hustle and bustle was about, right from the source...Tsunade.

And few minutes later while just sitting on the window seal, he heard her click open the windows and say "Come on in you big idiot."

"My pleasure, Hokage-sama." His voice dripping with sarcasm.

She looked as though she didn't even hear him... That was not a good sign, that meant things were much worse than he thought.

He suddenly questioned her seriously "What's the specifics of the situation Tsunade."

She sighed and looked up at him "Well you obviously know the basics, that we are in fact going to war with

rock, cloud, and grass." He nodded and she proceeded "Well its worse than we thought, it looks as though our intelligence is long expired concerning troop

build up, and all the countries in questions are also drafting all able bodied men over the age of 15 for their mass armies. They won't be well trained but they'll make up for it more than enough in numbers." Jiraiya shifted uncomfortably "...I've already spoken with fire country's Daimyo's, and we will have a hard time matching cloud, let alone rock and grasses armies. Wind and water are both small countries. we are going to be severely out numbered, when it comes to foot soldiers. It's going to be up to our shinobi, and generals to win this war, or at least not lose it..."

He nodded, and sat down with a cup of sake to think, Tsunade fell on the sofa next to him and sighed loudly.

This wasn't going to be good, leaf needs more allies, every ninja they got on their side was essential, he would have to use all his resources, contacts and skills to help leaf win the war... Even though he didn't much care for leaf, there were certain people he wanted desparetly to protect, He glanced over at Tsunade who was nearly asleep...He had to protect them.

He got up and flashed a startled Hokage a smile, and leapt out the window towards his nearest contact who happened to be in waterfall.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone, well sorry for not putting in end notes last time, I think that chapter went well. The introductions are done, so chapters are going to get much longer hopefully. This chapter I will attempt to get to some action :) I'm glad that so far I'm getting nice reviews and no flames. Also if you have any questions at all, please email me, PM me, which ever, and I will gladly answer them for you. In fact I encourage questions. And without further a'do, the story.

"talking"

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_"Naruto!" she screamed, a sword passing through his heart, his life giving blood draining onto the ground, the glimmer in his eyes leaving, she held him in her arms, the sword was meant for her...he looked at her and smiled weakly, "Its not your fault, Sakura-chan.. I did it because I couldn't let you die, I'll miss you..." he reached up and stroked her cheek and slowly relinquished to death's warm embrace, a look of calm upon his features "No, Naruto! You can't leave me, you can't!" she mumbled completely broken, crying against his side "You can't die, I still need you!...I lo-"_

"Sakura-chan?" A blond boy materialized in front of her face looking worried.

"Huh? Where am I?" she stated confused and at the same time totally relieved that naruto was alive and well.

"Well, we are in my apartment." He said, obviously nervous. "You just fell asleep during the meeting, and I don't really know where you live, so I took you back to my place so I didn't have to wake you."

She looked at him trying to remember what had happened, thats right, it was so warm in the briefing room, her eye lids so heavy and such a great orange pillow next to her, she cracked a smile and Naruto visibly relaxed "How long was I out?"

The blonde thought for a minute, "About 7 hours or so, I didn't want to wake you, but you started tossing and turning and crying in your sleep, I was so worried."

She grinned inside, he was so funny when he got flustered...wait, funny? Maybe that nightmare shook a few things loose, she usually got mad when he acted like that, but for some reason she didn't feel angry at all, just relieved it was just dream... And hungry, really hungry "I'm up for some food, how about you?"

He chuckled heartily "You know me Sakura-chan, I'm always up for a good meal with my favorite girl."

Favorite girl? Any other time she would have punched him into next week for something like that, but she just felt too shaken up to do anything at the moment, she just rolled her eyes at the overall lameness of said statement and motioned him to follow.

Upon arriving in the food district she was surprised to see hardly any people, everyone must be frightened by the impending war, this was the quiet before the storm.

She looked at her teammate standing next to her, smiling like nothing was about to happen, but she knew him better than that, she was shocked when he answered her about acting so care-free, that he just wore a mask. Though she had always had her suspicions, she knew nobody could ever be that happy all the time, it made her sad all the same.

"Hey, Naruto, Forehead Girl! Get over here!" Shouted a familiar voice.

Ino-pig, she rolled her eyes and followed her orange beacon across the street to the little restaurant where Ino and it seemed like the rest of the rookie nine were gathered eating solemnly and who now seemed focused on the new visitors.

"We are just having a little gathering before it begins, incase we never have another chance to all be together again..." Ino's voice seemed to dull at the end, and she could see the fear there. Everything is changing, too fast for her, much too fast.

"Well are you going to sit down and eat or what? Or is the famous team seven too good to eat with little old us?" said Kiba in his usual obnoxious fashion.

Naruto was up in his face after that remark, and in a matter of seconds there was mouth battle, Sakura immediately went to stop them from tearing up the place when they both fell the ground laughing uncontrollably.

Did she miss something? Less than a minute ago they were ready to tear each other limb from limb, she felt a light hand on her shoulder. "Thats just how some people deal with the fact they may never see each one another again." A white haired man said softly watching the two.

It struck her just how real this all was, this may very well be their final goodbye to some or all of their friends. War was like that, cruel beyond imagination. Something that tears people apart inside and out.

Naruto looked up and saw the man next to Sakura. "Hey Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?"

"Just traveling on the path of life, and this is where it brought me, what a shame." He said with an amused expression on his face.

The next few hours were some of the most fun she could ever remember having, just reminiscing with old friends, about old fights, missions and just personal stories, towards the end everyone was showing there true emotions on their faces. Anxiety and worry were common.

When they finally departed it was late, after two in the morning at least. Naruto as always was at her side, even though she repeatedly told him to go home and sleep. But he simply said "It wouldn't be very gentleman like to leave a lady to walk home by herself." Yet another comment he would have payed for dearly for, that she just let slip, what was happening to her.

"Fine, you can walk me home, but your sleeping at your on place." She said with a sarcastic overtone, he paled and she just smiled more, not that he could see it.

When they got to her door, she said "Thanks Naruto, I think I can take it from here."

"That hurts Sakura-chan, really." He said, playfully dramatic, putting his had over his heart.

She inhaled sharply remembering the dream in dreadful clarity, "Good night Naruto." She said quietly.

Before she closed the door completely she heard him step toward the door and say "Please Sakura-chan, don't do anything that might get you killed. I don't know what I would do." He said desperately.

She gave him a small smile and he relaxed a little bit, "I won't, and the same for you, no stupid hero stuff that will get you killed." He nodded and smiled, and went off into the darkness towards his apartment.

She made her way up to her bedroom and collapsed onto her bed, she just couldn't shake this feeling, that things were going to go horribly wrong, she drifted off to sleep feeling none the better.

She woke up after a surprisingly good night rest, and looked at the clock 8:07. Wait 8:07! she had to get to the briefing room at 8:30 and still had to get a shower and get into a clean outfit.

It was 8:27 when she jumped out her window, with her hair still wet, running towards the meeting. Only 20 minutes? Thats a new record for her, but there was no time to think about that now.

She arrived right on time and sat down in her seat next to Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, no sooner had she taken her seat the Hokage began.

"Well everyone knows the situation, I will now assign squads, and squad leaders. A squad will consist of four ninja, either a Jounin or Chunin leader. And a team consisting of either Chunins or Genins. The Jounin's squad will therefore most likely have more dangerous missions. I will also be introducing to you the new General in command of Fire Country's soldiers, who will also have authorization to give missions of great importance that he may need leaf ninja for. He was the commander in the last war with Rock and is a specialist in their strategy, if you have any questions concerning their tactics don't hesitate to ask before going on your mission." The crowd of ninja were dead quiet.

She started calling out Squad leaders followed by there squads, it seemed like forever before they heard their names "Squad leader A for 3rd company is Kakashi Hatake, members of his squad are, Uzumaki Naruto, Sakura Haruno, Yamato."

That wasn't much of a surprise, though that was good. She wouldn't like being with anyone but her team, she trusted them all with her life.

Near the end after all the squads had been assigned, she said "May Kami be with you. Also, all of you, try to be safe, and give'em hell! We move out first thing in the morning towards our decided base location, you have tonight to get all of your equipment in perfect condition and say goodbye to family. Dismissed!"

All the ninja started to leave, she hadn't even thought about her family, telling her mother about any of this, about her leaving and going off to war.

She parted with Naruto and Kakashi-sensei and headed straight home to talk with her parents. When she walked in the door her parents were waiting, her mother was crying and her father looked weary, large bags under his eyes, from apparently a sleepless night. Neither of her parents were ninja, so they didn't understand anything except there only child was going to war with the same country that had caused so much carnage before. "Mom, Dad...This is my last night here, we move out tomorrow. We are heading for the Fire country and Rock country border where we will set up camp, and prepare for battle."

Her mother just cried louder and embraced her tightly, and her father looked as though he was going to be sick, he just came up and gave her a kiss on the top of the head and said "I'll miss you, be careful." And with that she went up and got all of her necessaries taken care of and went to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be an eventful day.

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The cave was dark, and smelled slightly of pine. It was always a long walk through the maze of corridors to the central chamber where the boss meditated. The light stroll felt good after nearly two days of continuous travel at full speed, not even stopping to drink. After a few minutes he arrived at the large wooden and steel doors, that lead to the meditation chamber. He stood there for a moment. Then suddenly the doors started opening, completely silent, unexpected from their enormous size. He walked in slowly and extremely carefully, he had only been in here once before, and it had been with Zetsu, the second oldest next to the boss. He saw in the center of the dimly litten room a pair of eyes appear, in a shadow. They were unfearing, old beyond measure, yet full of vitality, eyes of a man, If you could even call him that anymore, that has lived for many many years and seen unspeakable things. It gave him chills sometimes, this man in front of him, was so mysterious, only having seen part of his face once, made him slightly uneasy, it was quite hard to hide one's self so well in a group of the most notorious groups of ninja of all time. He met the bosses gaze, his red eyes showing clearly through the twilight. This man didn't even fear the sharingan, something few could boast about. "What purpose have you come for, Itachi?"

"I have news here that could very well split our organization at the seams" He stated cooly.

"Let me see your report." Came a metallic voice.

Itachi approached wearily, yet careful not to show any emotion, he handed over the folder to the boss. The man in front of him took them quickly and began reading them. This was disturbing, even though he was within arms length he still couldn't make out any features of his face, it was as though a shadow clung to his very form. Chilling indeed. His eyes suddenly widened, and Itachi felt and incredible killer intent. He struggled to keep control of his body, he tried to keep his breath's even, but failed dismally. The pair of eyes looked up at him, blood vessels clearly visible. He then looked to his right and said "I want her terminated, and Tobi disciplined."

"Yes boss." Came a detached voice.

Itachi realized it was Zetsu. His pupils constricted in shock, he didn't even feel him. He knew Zetsu's primary job was infiltration, but he hadn't realized how good he really was. It was possible that being in the leaders presence somehow distracted him from his surroundings. He would have to be much more careful, now was no time to lose his concentration. "You have done well Itachi, in coming to me and reporting this incidence, you may go and rest, and when you have adequately done so, I want you to go back to Deidra and Kisame and give them this." He handed Itachi the note. "You may now leave."

"Yes sir." Itachi said quietly, then turned around and headed to the door. It seemed to far away, all his muscles were aching now. He really should get some rest, he needed time to think. After he exited the room the killer intent get less, and less until he barely felt it. He headed off to the living quarters.

When he arrived, he sat down on the straw mat and sighed. Why would Tobi do this? Break one of the Boss's strictest rules. He had to know that he couldn't keep it secret, so why do it? The questions continued to swirl around in his mind. Why had Kisame sided with Tobi and Deidra? What was his connection is all this? This is so frustrating, He had half expected the Boss to order him to kill Tobi outright, but he guessed that wouldn't make any sense, considering they only needed two more tailed beasts, the eight tailed, whom they had no idea where it was, and the nine tailed, whom was housed in the blonde haired fool. Jiraiya was the only reason they hadn't acquired him early and kept him in captivity, now he was strong, very strong. It would be troublesome to capture and detain him now. Though Jiraiya is an impressive ninja, one of the best, with decades of experience behind him. It would do no good to sit and brood over this matter, it had been decided long ago. Yes it would be very difficult to get another member now, Tobi would have to do for the moment. Now it was time for a short sleep.

After about four hours of light sleep, if one could even call it sleep, Itachi never truly slept, he stayed on the border between wakefulness and the dream world. He got up feeling much better than he did earlier. He had regained all of his stone cold composure and concentration. He gathered his items and exited the cavern, into the forest and started on his journey back. The tree's blurred together, a familiar sight, where a clock meant nothing and he truly lost himself from both time and thought.

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The barracks was stuffy with fear and weariness, the men in there looked sick and weak. Most were sitting or laying on their mats, writing letters to their loved ones. He just sat there, taking this all in, how familiar it feels. He is no stranger to the taste of fear, though it has been such a long time, so long ago. "Troops, attention!" all of them bolted to their feet, and bowed to their squad commander "Men, you are to get your packs ready, and be in the designated area in fifteen minutes!"

Forty men in unison yelled "Hai" and bustled into commotion, a streak of relief ran through them, they no longer had to brood in their own thoughts and fears. fifteen minutes later to the second they started marching in perfect formation. Countless miles later, one could here men whistling and laughing, telling stories of past fights and women. Meanwhile, he just walks, silent, thinking heavily on the battle to come. "Hey Ko!...Kofuru!" Yelled one of his squad mates, he looked up suddenly, his deep thoughts shattered glass "What do you want Suzu?" He said annoyed.

"Oh didn't mean to interrupt your earth shaking thoughts." He said cooly, sarcasm evident in his voice.

"Yes well, you should be." He said chuckling.

"You shouldn't be so depressed Ko, its a real mood killer. Let me tell you about the greatest day of my life, it will surly lighten your mood!" He winked and flashed a grin.

"This was about ten years ago, back in my home village near the Grass and Rock border. I lived in a small home with my four brothers and three sisters and my parents. It was a nice life, we always had enough to eat, but had to go and find or build toys. I was about fifteen at the time, into mostly hunting and girls, oh how I loved the ladies. I loved one in particular, I chased after her night and day, but she always refused me, how could she with looks like mine." He flashed a smile "Well anyways, after months of rejection, finally I scored. She agreed to go out with me. It was a nice time, but I remember her eyes the most, her big blue orbs. You could get lost in them for hours. After a great night of food and talking, she confesses that she always wanted to go out with me, but was always told by her father not too, it was shocking, and I proposed to her on the spot, and guess what, she said ye-" His throat explodes with blood, his eyes bulged as he falls towards the ground.

Ko's eyes widen, pupils constricting with overwhelming shock, he looks up to see a group of 3 water ninja throwing kunai and shurikens at him and his squad mates, dead on. accuracy tearing up men left and right. He drops to the ground a fraction of a second before a blade whooshes over his head. he grips his sword, and looks up to chaos, water ninja appearing and disappearing into the forest causing mayhem. It was all over in less than a minute, but their visit evident in the devastation they left. They didn't kill many, but they caused fear, a vital emotion for the enemy to utilize. Suzu... why didn't that kunai hit him?

A few hours later after they put up camp, they were told to report to roll call, to see what casualties were. Everyone assumes their places, holes in the ranks evident like great chasms. He looked to his right and sees no one, to his left...Suzu... was empty, in front of him was filled with air, he risked a glance behind him and saw another man sized space resided there. Every man around him, had died in the attack, which made up the largest portion of men killed in his squad. He found out later that those ninja had killed about seventy-five men before being overwhelmed by friendly ninja and killed. "We will be moving out at first light tomorrow! Get some shut eye, dismissed!"

He went to sleep, very disturbed, and very sad, one of his first friends here in the army, just died right in front of his eyes, it was to much to handle, he needed the sweet release that was sleep or he might just lose his mind.

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It had been five hours and his contact was not at the appointed place, he was starting to get frustrated. How was he supposed to help his loved ones, if his contacts didn't even show up! He had been sitting in the corner drinking sake for nearly two more hours before a man wearing black came into the bar and sat down across from him "What a fine day."

"I'd rather have it rain." answered Jiraiya

"Its good to see you old friend, its been far to long for us old men to get together and talk." The man said a smile spread across his features.

"You know how much I like talking with you, but I have some critical business I need to talk with you about." He said, dead serious.

"I figured as much, I can guess that this has to do with the imminent war, I've already dubbed it Ninja world war two." He said chuckling at his lame joke.

Jiraiya gave him a hard stare that sobered his jovial mood considerably "I need to know how waterfall's politics are going, I need to know whose in power, who has influence and troop counts."

The man raises his eyebrow and smiles "Thinking about convincing a few leaders to join your side in this war? Good luck with that, my friend. They are not going to be convinced easily, but sure i'll tell you what you want to know and who you need to talk to." Jiraiya nodded and listen carefully, absorbing every word, they would all be very important a little bit later.

Several hours later they parted, the man disappearing into the night, and Jiraiya made his way to the most important sympathizer of the leaf against the Rock that he knew about. He snuck up to the window opened it quietly, with many decades of experience on his side, and jumped in. He made his way to the man's study to find him awake, doing late night paper work. He knocks lightly on the wall. "Dear just set my tea over there on the stand I'll get it in a few minutes

"I would love too, but I don't have any tea." Said the Legendary Super Pervert.

The man spun around and went to shout only to find himself against the wall with a muscled forearm pinning his throat to the wall, panic written on his face, one could taste the fear it was so thick around him, "Shhhh, I'm a friend from leaf, don't sound the alarm, my name is Jiraiya and I'm here only to talk."

The man relaxed and seemed to come back to his senses, he nods and Jiraiya releases him. He breathed deeply regaining his breath. "I'm sorry for the rough treatment, but it was necessary, so that you could not yell and cause me complications"

"I understand, but you must understand that I have many enemies that would no doubt kill me if they could, frankly I'm surprised that you even made it here, I thought my guard was heavy enough to deter most ninja, but I imagine you don't have your legendary status for nothing." He said a rye smile gracing his features.

"Well I wouldn't have snuck in here if it hadn't been necessary to do so, I need your support, and the backing of your supporters, we need you, as we're afraid that leaf may lose the war."

The man looked slightly surprised at this news "I wasn't aware that leaf was in such a dire situation, but the political atmosphere here in waterfall isn't really in ideal conditions for such support. Most want to stay neutral, and just wait out the war, as though that will happen, Rock is a brutal nation, they will make that all but impossible before the end."

"Yes I know Rock well enough from my last encounter, not the nicest nation to deal with. What kind of action will Rock have to take in order to allow the political atmosphere to change in leaf's favor?" Asked Jiraiya.

The man sat down with a cup and tea and thought a moment "Well someone greatly against getting involved with the war will have to change his mind, and that will not be easy, but I would imagine if the right person was killed it could radically shift the views of anti-war supporters."

"I see" said Jiraiya sitting down next to the man to think. A radical idea started to formulate itself in his mind. A crazy plot which required perfect timing, precise skill, and perfect cooperation. A smile settled across his face, a devious smile. "What are you thinking, Jiraiya-sama?"

Catching onto his devious face, a face that he had seen many times when politicians came up with something genius, and often illegal. He leaned over and started to quietly tell the man his daring plan, and the man starts to see exactly what Jiraiya was concocting.

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End Notes: Well this went well I think, I covered a lot of necessary points and events that needed to be covered to seed the plot adequately. :) Again if anyone has any questions just PM or post them, I will gladly answer. Also if you wouldn't mind posting any general thoughts, or impression of the story thus far, they would be greatly appreciated.

Laters...

Thank you Matt for helping me with beta copy! Yay!


	4. Chapter 4

Well, I'm sorry for such a long delay in my posting of the next chapter, I've been so busy with school its not even funny, I calculated it out the other day and I'm going a little over 85 hours a week with school, work and study, I didn't even count chill out time in that calculation, and I average 4-5 hours of sleep. -- Yeah I'm almost insane, this is one of my outlets for stress when I can't power nap. Oh well, enough of my ranting and complaining, you didn't come here to read this. :P Also, on a side note, when I write here I kinda wanna know what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing right, so if you could please indulge me I would be very grateful. :D And onto the story...

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It had been two days since Itachi-san had left to tell the Boss, and he was getting worried. He hadn't been sleeping much at all, and it was taking its toll. Even Kisame had been noticing and if one doesn't ?notice? him well, he never usually pointed out things to people. He walked over to his night stand and picked up one of the many letters that were sitting there, and held it so close to his face he could smell the perfume that was saturated into it. He immediately relaxed and sat down. It would all be worth it, if he got out of it with his life that is, and hers. He decided to write a letter to her, he needed to see her, if he didn't soon he was afraid that he would lose his sanity!

_Dear My deepest Love,_

_My heart yearns for your heart, my soul aches for your soul. If I don't see you soon, hold you with my arms and hear your voice I fear that I will not retain my sanity. I long for times that we can be with each other uninterrupted for eternity. My heart weeps for each day that passes, my mind races, and my soul darkens. I need the replenishing light of your love to restore me. I just don't know how long I can keep going. If you could please come and see me, tomorrow at midnight in the alley beside the Sunrise Inn. I have a most urgent thing to say to you! My Undying love remains always._

_Love,_

_T_

He looked over it for a moment then when he was satisfied he rolled it up and tied it shut with a red ribbon. "Deidara-Sempai! Where are you!"

"Right here, idiot," he said sitting in his room. Gazing at a blank canvas with a look of pure hate etched upon his features, he swiftly pulled out a kunai and threw it through the light weight fabric and got up and started punching it and kicking it. "Why can't paint?! It is art, and I am a true artist, and a true artist can do anything art related!" He yelled, finally relenting his abuse on the shattered canvas.

"Sempai, it will be ok," he said patting the blond on the shoulder gently.

"It will most certainly not be OK! I will paint a masterpiece! I WILL!" He screamed, his vengeance against the canvas renewed with increased vigor, splinters flying through the air and Tobi barely dodging them.

"Sempai! I wrote another letter, I need you to deliver," he said loudly.

Deidara looked up with a rather annoyed face "Again? Are you serious Tobi, you just wrote another letter, I just took one two days ago! What could have possibly happened in two days that would make it worth my while to go and deliver that?"

"Well, I have a really special reason Sempai, I promise," he said sheepishly, scratching behind his head nervously.

"Nope, not going to do it, you big block head, nothing you say will make me go. NOTHING I SAY!"

He leaned down and whispered something in his ear, and the blonde's eye's got wide, he looked over at the mask wearing man next to him and said "Are you serious? Totally and completely serious?"

"Yep, I've come to that decision, I just can't go on living if I don't," he sighed.

"Well I guess I can make an exception and go, if you let me read it that is" he said, winking repeatedly like a flirtatious little girl.

"Never!" he screamed and ran across the room, Deidara one step behind him, attempting to swipe the letter from a frantic Tobi. "It must be really juicy if your trying this hard to not let me read it!"

After several minutes and some some whining, begging, severe laughing, crying and embarrassment, Deidara walked out of the room, still chanting "My undying love remains always."

Wow that had been embarrassing, Sempai and his dirty tricks. At least she would be here in a little more than a day. He reached into his pocket to see if it was still there, and when he felt it he was relieved. It was time for a good night sleep and sweet sweet dreams.

Twelve hours later he awoke with a shudder, it had been only a dream, nothing more than a nightmare what nightmare:/ . He walked to window and looked out onto a sunny bright and beautiful day. When he got outside he felt a gentle breeze rustle his hair, and the warmth of the sun on his back. He needed a drink to quell his anxiety about tonight, everything would go perfectly, if he had any say in it. He walked into the local bar and saw his blond haired sempai sitting in a booth, talking up a storm with the waitress about art, of some kind or another. He was a dedicated artist, he had to give him that. Suddenly the waitress slapped Deidara across the face, and stormed off red faced. "What did you say Sempai?" He said genuinely confused.

"I Just asked her if she would like to appear in my art, in her natural form, I thought she would give me inspiration to paint my masterpiece, but all I got was a sore cheek," he sighed.

"Well if you asked me that I would have slapped you too Sempai," he said cheerily.

"Thanks Tobi, but your much to ugly to be considered art," he replied slyly.

"Aww, Sempai, thats so nice of you!" He said trying to give him a hug.

"Get the hell off me! I don't do hugs! NO HUGS!" He yelled.

"Lets get some drinks here, I'm in a drinking mood. two sake's for me and my friend!"

"Coming right up sirs," said the waitress smiling and rushing into the kitchen.

Deidara suddenly looked serious "What are you going to do about Zetsu and Itachi? There not going to go easy on you about this, and your girl will most likely be terminated. Don't get me wrong I'm behind you a hundred percent, but I just don't know if we can keep her alive through this."

"I won't let that happen Sempai, I will die before I let anything like that happen, plus we have Kisame with us too," said the masked Akatsuki member.

"I hope you know what your doing old friend," said the blond.

The hours went by so fast, as the two chatted, drank and ate. Before he knew it, it was nearly midnight. He was more nervous than ever, shaking and sweating. He said goodbye to Deidara and made his way to the Sunrise Inn alley and waited. Nearly twenty minutes, which seemed like days to him. When suddenly she was there standing in the moonlight. He hadn't even realized it he had been so preoccupied with his own thoughts. He made his way into the lighted section so she could see him. When she saw him she rushed over to him and embraced him tightly. "I've miss you so much Tobi-chan, it seems like eternity since I've seen you," she said crying into his chest.

"I've missed you so much too, I though I would die if I didn't see you soon," he said in a whisper, "I love you so much."

They just stood there for what seemed like forever when suddenly a knife flashed through the night aiming at her tender exposed back with lethal aim. Tobi barely sensed the kunai in time and moved them out of the way. He strained his senses to their limit, listening for any clue for the next attack. She became quiet in pure shock of the situation, she had felt the knife hiss through the air next to her ear. Another knife flashed into the open towards her, but Tobi was ready this time, he let her go and blocked it with a knife of his own. He realized his mistake to late. He turned to see another knife coming through the air at his lover. Time slowed down, and the knife inched closer and closer to her unaware body, when suddenly she was gone, just gone. The knife clattering off the wall harmlessly. He looked up to see a large black form with her over his shoulders on the roof tops, white eyes shining through the night. Kisame. He got over his stupor and turned to their assailant. He yelled "Revealing light!" and a great shining mass illuminated the alley way. Showing a shadow in the corner, bright yellow eyes peering back at him. It was Zetsu. "That was a foolish move Kisame, you will be dealt with after this. Now Tobi, you will be punished because your treasonous acts have warranted it. Your arm will do, don't resist and this will go easier," he said robotically, bringing his knife to bear. Tobi readied his own knife, the time for words was done, and the time of action was at hand. The light suddenly dimmed.

They both ran at each other with blinding speed, their knives flashing back and forth too fast to see, clanging with great fury. Zetsu blocked everything Tobi threw at him with ease, and kept striking back faster and faster. Tobi was falling back from the onslaught, when he suddenly ducked and threw a low kick, but Zetsu was too fast and jumped over it, leaving Tobi wide open on his right side. Without missing a beat he grabbed his right arm and heaved the masked member into the air and with his own foot kicked him square in the chest, cracking could be heard clearly cutting through the crisp night air. Tobi hit the wall with great force that knocked the breath out of him. He could feel a warm liquid dripping down the side of his face. This wasn't going well, he had to do something or he would lose.

He got up shakily to his feet, and looked at Zetsu who just stood there waiting calmly. He put his hands together, and chanted something under his breath and it suddenly became solid black, it was as though the whole alley was engulfed in a black velvet bag. Even the stars were blotted out from view. He moved through it without pause or sound towards Zetsu and struck with full force at his exposed back, when it was suddenly stopped by another knife. How could Zetsu have blocked his attack so easily?! He felt a sharp pain flash across his shoulder, his blood flowing freely down his arm. The darkness vanished with Zetsu standing over a prone Tobi. "How did you block it so easily?" he said voice quivering

"Simple. I am intimately connected with the earth, I could feel every step you made like you would feel an earthquake. Easy enough, you cannot defeat me with such petty techniques." His eyes looking down on him unflinchingly "Your arm is forfeit, I will now remove it for your treasonous acts, and after I amputate your arm, I will terminate your love interest." He reaches down and grips Tobi's arm, and raises his knife for a dehabilitating strike. As the knife descends, Tobi loses it. He reaches up and grips Zetsu's wrist much to the surprise of him. "I will not allow you to harm her, you will NOT kill her!"

He screamed and kicked Zetsu's knee and heard a satisfying crack and hissing sounds from his enemy, and his arm was free. He got up and jumped back, trying to put some distance between them. He put his hand together once again and chanted a new phrase, and he vanished. He wasn't a master of illusion for nothing. Zetsu's eyes widened, he couldn't feel him through the ground anymore, he really did vanish. Could this be a genjutsu? No, he would have felt it. He closed his eyes and extended his senses to their fullest, trying to catch a glimpse of his presence, because when he struck it would be fast and furious. Tobi bid his time in the air waiting for the opportune time to strike. Zetsu was confused, and that was a good thing, he needed a surprise attack. He found it, from behind left side he was open. He started his attack.

He plunged downwards towards the ground at lightning speed, directly aiming for Zetsu. He came closer and closer to his target, and when he was but a mere few feet away he struck with furious precision. Right as the blade would have bitten into soft muscle Zetsu's eye's jerked open and he dropped to the ground and rolled to the side. The knife plunging deep into the hard dirt. Zetsu turned around and slashed at where he was attacked from with deadly accuracy. He barley dodged it and heard it as it whistled but inches from his ear. He immediately launched a volley of attacks at the plant like man in front of him, missing by centimeters each time as he kept dodging weaving and retreating. Tobi just couldn't believe what he was seeing, he couldn't be seen and yet he couldn't land a single blow. This was a very dangerous man indeed. He needed to mix it up again, this was going no where. He threw the knife at Zetsu and it nicked his face, leaving a steak of blood in its wake. Tobi jumped into the air and threw many shuriken at Zetsu, who just continued to evade them. He then once again decided to descend at his opponent with startling speed, faster than before. Zetsu swung his knife in an upward arc, and Tobi side stepped barely and sunk his blade deep into tender shoulder, blood spraying everywhere. The plant like Akatsuki member hissed loudly and made a horizontal slash wildly at Tobi, who ducked and struck again and this time sliced a superficial wound across his entire abdomen. He then retreated back to a safe distance and looked on with sheer horror. Zetsu was glowing and had a truly sinister look carved upon his face.

This was going to be bad, oh so very bad. This needed to end now. He took his pose, and revealed himself. If he stayed invisible Zetsu would have to use large area attacks that could possibly harm her. He couldn't have that. He readied his next attack, and couldn't believe it had come to this point, where he would have to use it. Zetsu screamed something incomprehensible and large thorny vines extended underground from his feet. Suddenly vines appeared all around him, so quickly! He was completely surrounded, and there was no escape. The vines quickly started there onslaught. The whipped, slashed and speared at Tobi unrelentingly. He was going to die if he couldn't get out of here. He kept darting back and forth, getting scraped, cut and bleeding everywhere. After what seemed like an eternity of dodging, he stumbled from exhaustion and was cut deeply in the back only inches from his spine. He looked up towards the sky, breaths ragged and uneven, the only remaining thoughts on his mind were her. He saw darkness on the edges of his vision as it grew, and soon he saw nothing, and knew nothing...

Several days later he awoke.

His eye lids felt so heavy, his limb's blocks of lead. He ground his teeth with effort to force himself to open his eyes. Slowly but surely he succeeded, next was to look around to see where he was. Was this the afterlife? Why did it hurt so much if he was dead? "Tobi!" suddenly a small form practically smothered him with embraces. Pain shot through every fiber of his being and he groaned loudly. The small person suddenly squeaked and jumped off of him. "I am so sorry Tobi-chan, I forgot you were hurt," she said with pain and exhaustion evident in her voice.

"It's ok, my love," he whispered "I'm so happy your alive." A small tear ran down his cheek, and dropped out the bottom of his mask.

"Can't you take that thing off Tobi-chan? Your all hurt and your wearing a mask," she pouted.

"I'm sorry dear," he said. "But I just need to sleep," and with that he lost consciousness once again.

He was in and out of wakefulness on the eve of twilight for several more days. Drifting in and out, groaning in pain. When he finally awoke he felt so much better, he could open his eyes freely and even sit up a small amount. He still felt so sore all over and and his shoulder still burned fiercely. He looked around and saw Sempai sleeping in the corner. He was so lucky to have such a great man by his side. A few moments later Deidara woke up and saw Tobi just staring at him. "What the hell do you want, Tobi?"

"Oh nothing sempai, but I'm wondering. Just what happened? I thought I was dead for sure."

"Well, Zetsu had you completely surrounded in his vines, so I sent a clay art attack to kill those ugly and unsightly vines and went down and retrieved you. Then put you in a safe place and fought him. You took him down quite a bit, so I had an easier time quelling his murderous tirade. Then after that was done, I took you here and she took care of you from there on out. She even healed you some with techniques she knew, hmn." He said with a happy nodding.

"Oh, so cool! My Sempai rescued me cause you care so much about me, your the greatest!" He squealed tears falling from his eyes during this declaration.

"Wow, remind me never to help you again," chuckled Deidara as he exited the room.

Soon sleep put its spell back on Tobi, and he resumed wandering the twilight.

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It was dark and the night air was cold and clean. It was a big relief being out of the village, even if it did mean going to war. No more politics, no more words. Raw emotions and skill were all that mattered on the battlefield. Man versus man, it was truly mortal combat, kill or be killed. It was the way of war and inevitability life. He pulled a food pack from his pouch and started to devour it. "Hey Sakura-chan, want any?"

"No thanks Naruto, I just ate," she said rather glumly.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan? You sound depressed," he said lightly.

She nearly stumbled "What! We are going to war Naruto! This is not some hike in the woods, people are going to die!"

"Sorry," he whispered.

Sakura always knows just where to strike him to get the most effect. He's never felt so bad in his life except when she yells at him. It breaks his heart and wracks his mind with guilt. She yelled at him so much, one wouldn't think it would still have such a dramatic effect on his emotions.

They had been traveling for just a little over fourteen hours, at full speed with no breaks. They had to make it to the fort before there enemies. They were the reinforcements, and if they didn't show up it would surely fall. They had been besieged for nearly thirty-six hours now, and hopefully still held. He didn't know what to expect at his first large battle with the enemy soldiers and ninja. He was starting to feel anxious, he just wanted to get there and start already. The waiting was the hardest thing to deal with.

"OK, approximately twenty minutes until we arrive at our predestined location!" Kakashi yelled.

Everyone reached into there pouches and pulled out cold metal into their warm hands. Soon they would be hot with blood, sweat and tears. He looked down at the dull gleam of his weapon, how much death would it see today? His hands started to shake. He looked around himself and saw friends, acquaintances and strangers all around him. Some will die, some will be maimed. Was he ready to deal with that? There was no time to ponder such a question. He had to steel himself to everything he might see.

Naruto had grown up a lot in the past few years. From an annoying brat, to an angry teenager, to a semi-mature adult. He started to take things more seriously, when it came to battle and protecting what he cherished. He began to think a lot more about his life and what it meant to do what he did. It was a brand new experience for him, having ideas go through his mind, things he had never considered before just popping into his head. This battle was more than fighting, it was about finding out more about himself. Was he worthy of becoming Hokage?

"We will be able to see the fort with a minute," Kakashi said low, so only his team could hear it.

This pulled Naruto from his thoughts. He banished all thoughts from his mind and looked over at Sakura and flashed a grin. She looked sick to her stomach, pale in the face and looked as though she were going to hyperventilate. When she saw him grin at her, she seemed to perk up and gave him a small worried smile back. He then looked to Kakashi and received an encouraging nod. No, he wasn't scared, he had his best friends right here with him. Fighting by his side and guarding his back. It was time.

He caught sight of the large stone structure in the distance. Smoke was pouring out of the roof. It was thick in the air, choking and noxious. Rank with death and blood. Were they too late? He could hear screams of agony in the distance. Bodies were starting to be seen strewn across the landscape. Leaf, cloud and rock alike. It was overwhelming, he started to quiver, but he pulled himself together. He put on a mask, one to hide his true feelings. He needed to become steel. They got closer and closer and the screaming increased in intensity and volume. The clashing of metal could now be heard, like a whispering undercurrent of destruction. He raised his knife and strained his senses to there maximum.

He saw a group of leaf ninja surrounded by enemies. They looked tough, but not enough to deter him in the least. He descended at them with hellish fury, restraining his battle cry, something that he could not have done but a few years ago. He knew his attack was a surprise because the man he went for didn't even turn around as a blade plunged deep into his back. The man yelled and fell to the ground dead. He risked a quick glance back and saw his teammates engaged in battles just like he was. He turned to his next opponent who was staring at him, with fiery hate. Naruto had just cut down his comrade and he wanted vengeance.

The man lunged at Naruto with a great howl, grief and hate evident clearly. He swung wildly at him, but Naruto was more than ready. He parried easily and countered with deadly resolve. The man fell to the ground gripping his throat, where a large gash could be seen. He didn't feel remorseful or anything. Was that how it was supposed to feel, or was he just numb?

He jumped to the side barely evading a blade that was aimed right at his jugular vein. He turned to meet his next opponent. This guy was different, definitely a Jounin. He had a large scar diagonally set across his face, green eyes and a feral smile. The Jounin looked as though he reveled in the death and pain of others. He raised his knife and charged.

This man was much faster, but it didn't matter, he wasn't fast enough to effectively shut Naruto down. He was monstrously strong though. His shoulder and elbow ached from absorbing the knife blows. He looked for an opening and found it. Naruto was now on the offensive, he growled after each attack, gaining momentum. He could see fear in the other mans face, who could blame him. When your looking death in the eye, one tends to lose his resolve. He slowly but surely made progress, and his opponent became sluggish and slow. Naruto was ready to end this. He ducked under the Jounin's next slash and brought his knife up under and stabbed up straight through his jaw into his brain. Blood leaked from his mouth and his eyes became wild and terrified, he spasmed several times before laying peacefully on the ground.

Naruto wiped the blood off of his forehead and from around his eyes. His muscles felt sore and tired. It felt as though he had been awake for days. Yet he had to fight on. He once again looked around at the carnage, searching for his friends. He saw Kakashi fighting a group of chuunin, and Sakura fighting this extremely large man with a gigantic sword, or rather a cleaver. Seeing another ninja trying to flank her, he jumped into action.

He Launched himself into the fray. He couldn't let his Sakura-chan die. Not even at the cost of his own life. The ninja was nearly at Sakura's exposed back when he was caught across the side of the head by a black boot and slammed into a brick wall. He was momentarily stunned by this surprise assault, but quickly regained his composure and attacked. He threw a hail of shuriken at his blond haired assailant, who dodged them with ease. He made a string of hand signs and chanted something. The earth rumbled and split open with a brilliant cracking sound, but Naruto was already in the air high above the ground, an unamused look on his face. Anybody who would try to harm his Sakura-chan would pay for it with their lives! He felt a familiar red chakra running through his body, he felt enraged, bloodthirsty! The enemy ninja looked horrified, as though he were witnessing a demon first hand. Maybe thats what you could call Naruto in his current form. A demon. He rushed the man with incredible speed, unable to be seen by the naked eye. In a fraction of a second he crossed the battle field and was sticking a knife threw the man's heart with a satisfying crack of his breast bone. His fury subsided for the time being. He again looked to Sakura and saw that she had defeated the giant, and was now fighting a small quick ninja with a mask on. An Anbu.

Would she be OK? He asked himself over and over. Should he leave and find another fight or wait here and help if she needed it. Half of him wanted to leave and the other half wanted to stay. He decided to leave, Sakura was a woman now, and more importantly a full fledged ninja. Who was he to babysit her? He felt something small break in the back of his mind and it made him sad. He slowly turned away and made his way in the thick of battle once again.

He started fighting groups of foot soldiers, slashing and forgetting. Trying to block out the carnage from his mind. Did any of these men have families? No he couldn't think about that, he would go insane if he did. All of a sudden he heard a familiar sound, like birds chirping, then "CHIDORI!" He turned around and his eyes widened. Kakashi had his hand through the masked man's back. The Anbu's blade but mere inches from Sakura's neck. She looked bloodied and beaten. He had nearly caused Sakura's death, because of his thought to be maturity. His mind's calm just shattered and the red chakra poured out as though the dam had just broken, and nothing to hold it back. He immediately sprung three tails and started killing everyone in his path. He growled and screamed incoherent phrases repeatedly as he dealt death. The enemies started to flee at the sight of this. They kept screaming "DEMON! A DEMON! RUN!" This started a full fledged retreat of all Rock foot soldiers and a few of their genins. This forced the rest of the ninja to retreat from lack of support. In short, Naruto's temper ended the battle. When all the enemies had finally left his anger vanished and he fell to the ground. He looked up into the sky and felt sadness fall over him, so deep it was numbing him further until he felt nothing but cold. He looked over to where Sakura was in the medical tent fixing up injured, and started to shake. He closed his eyes and tried to stop it, but couldn't. He just shook harder. Hot tears running down his face. He fell asleep on the hard blood soaked land, and ghosts of those he had slain haunted him.

Later he woke up in a small tent. He heard rhythmic breathing next to him, and when he looked over he saw a small form, with pink hair laying there. He seized up and his muscles contracted. He silently got up, he couldn't breathe in here. When he finally slipped out of the tent he took a deep breath. He made his way over to the nearest tree and sat down and looked up at the stars. He sat there for what seemed like hours when he felt a familiar presence appear next to him. They both sat there for a while and just stargazed. Then Kakashi said "Naruto, I know you feel guilty for what happened today, but nothing happened, she is fine. Don't let war warp you, like it did to me all those years ago. Your a special guy, who is destined to be Hokage. Don't lose your humanity. It is fine to feel remorse, to feel sad for those you kill. Don't let yourself become a machine." With that, he got up and left Naruto to his thoughts.

Kakashi's words rang in his mind over and over. He did feel numb, but it started to melt away slowly, and in its place a deep sorrow along with relief flooded him. He smile into the darkness. He decided from that point on, he wouldn't be a killing machine. He walked back to the tent and went in. He saw that Sakura was shivering and took his blanket and gently put it over her. He then laid down and went to sleep, feeling more peaceful then he ever thought he would.

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Well I hope you like, cause I put quite a bit of time into this. I'm finally feeling more comfortable in my writing And I hope its evident. I got my fight scene's in, and I hope everyone likes them. I just wanna thank Matt for all his help and support in this writing, cause without him, you would see very bad punctuation and some messed up grammar. He also encouraged me to start this fic and gave me so pointers about how to go about my writing to make it more enjoyable to read. So YAY Matt:D Thanks for reading thus far, stayed tuned for the next chapter.


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